Unwinding reel and carriage assembly



Jan. 14, 1941.

L. w. NASH Erm. UNWIDING REEL AND CARRIAGE ASSEMBLY -I 19:58. 2 sheets-sheet 1l Filed June 27,

INVEN OS. ma; l

Jan. 14, 1941. wl NASH v. ETAL 2,228,477 v uNwINDING REEL AND CARRIAGE ASSEMBLY Filed June '27, 1938l 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Jan. 14, 1941 l UNWINDING REEL AND CARRIAGE ASSEMBLY Leonard W. Nash, Damascus, and George A. Martin, Salem, Ohio, assig'nors to E. W. Bliss Com-l pany, Brooklyn, N. Y., acorporation of Dela- Wal'e Application June 27, l1938, Serial No. 216,175

2. Claims.. x(Cl. 242-79) Our present invention relates to an unwinding reel and carriage assembly for handlingcoils of strip material, and more particularly for positioning coils of such material for unwinding and feeding to machines or apparatus, for further treatment.-

In the rolling of hoi; and cold strip metal, both ferrous and non-ferrous, the strip material at one or more stages in the procedure is wound into coils which must be subsequently unwound in the course of further treatment of the metal. Various means have been proposed for the handling of these coils, with greater or lesssuccess. Most of these coils are initially wound on a mandrel l5 and discharged therefrom to provide coreless coils. -These are then transferred to unwindingway to the use of what are known as cone reels.

The cone reels, while possessing the advantage of facilitating handling and centering of the coils, valso possess certain objectionable characteristics, for example,v (a.) the pressure of the cones'have a tendency to spoil the edges of the innermostr convolution of the strip; (b) in'unwinding strip metal from such reels it is important to hold the last few convolutions tightly, which fact, together with the pressure on the edges of said convolutions, results in much spoilage and scrap at the end of such coils; (c) it is diiicult to definitely control the amount of tension since too little pressure on the coil ends allowsv the .coil to slip, and

too much pressure damages the edgesV of the strip.

overcome the deficiencies and objectionable characteri'stic's of the prior art devices. This we ac- 10 'Ihe objects of ourpresent invention are to f thereon'is unwound, thus providing substantial saving in operating time; (5) the relationship of parts makes the mill more accessible since the loading carriage is vbelow the iioor' level and .a sliding platecovers the pit when the carriage is in place under the mandrel.

The present invention will be better understood from the detailed description which follows, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of our invention with certain parts brokenaway tobetter illustrate the construction thereof. Y v

Fig. 2 is a section `taken along the Aplaneof the une 2 2 ofr'ig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 when viewed from the right thereof.

Fig. 4 is a fractional top plan View of the carriage pit vand the sliding oor plate for covering the same.

f Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section taken substanv tially alongthe plane of ythe'line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, our invention comprises a mandrel indicated generally by the reference character ),I, a pit II below the mandrel and within which a carriage I2 is movable and adapted to be broughty into underlying relation to the mandrel. g

The mandrel I0 is" of the collapsible type and consists of a core lor shaft I3 which is supported at one end and free at its other end, the supported end of the shaft bein-g driven by a motor I4 through a drive gear I5 in a manner which is well known. Slidably but non-rotatably mounted on the core or shaftv I3 is a sleeve I6 provided on its surface' with two sets of inclined slideways I'I which are.`axially spaced apart. Mounted to ride in the inclinedslideways I1 are lugs I8 depending from arcuate segments I9. The arcuate segments adjacent one end thereof are each formed with an inwardly-directed The sleevek I6 at its outer end is connected by a plate 24 to a rod 25 which extends through an axial bore in the mandrel shaft, which rod at its opposite end is connected to a piston (not shown) mounted within a fluid pressure cylinder 26.' As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the sleeve I6 is in its outermost position, i. e., with the lugs ,I8 of the arcuate segments in their innermost position on the inclined slideways I1. When air or other pressure fluid is admitted to the cylinder 26 to move the piston therein to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1, the rod 25 is moved in the corresponding direction and carries with it the sleeve IIi.A In the course of this movement the inclined slideways I1 force the lugs I8 radially outwardlyto expand the arcuate segments I3.

The carriage I2, which is disposed in the pit II, is provided with wheels 21`which ride over a trackway 28, and said carriage isadapted to be moved over said trackway by being'coupled, as at 29, to one end of a rack 38 which is adapted to be longitudinally moved by means of a pinion 3l mounted on a shaft 32 which is driven by a motor 33 through al speed reducer 34. The movable carriage I2 has a fixed stroke and is limited in its movement to the left as viewed in Fig. 1 by the engagement of a collar 30a iixed on the rack ,bar with the end wall of the machine base.

Mounted on the carriage I2 is a vertically adjustable platen 35 which may be suitably raised and lowered by fluid pressure or mechanical means, and for this purpose the carriage is ntted with a motor (not shown) and a pump 36 for supplying the fluid to a cylinder 31 within which extends a piston 38 depending from the platen 35. AThe platen is adapted to support a coil of strip material and raise it into coaxial alignment with the mandrel and present said coil onto the mandrel as the carriage moves the platen into underlying relation to the mandrel.

For definitely positioning the coi/1 of strip material on the mandrel I8 with respect to the center line thereof, the-carriage I2 at its top is formed with a slideways within which is adiustably slideable' a gauge member 48 having Lanend wall 4I for engagement with the end of Aa coil supported on the platen. For adjusting the'member 48, a fixed nut 42 mounted in the 'reanwall of themember has threaded therethrough a screw 43 which is supported in a bearing, 44 and;A has connected to the outer end thereof avhandwheel 45.

fiile-positioning of the coil of stripmaterial supported on the platen 35 can also be adjusted with respect to* the center line of the mandrel by il plate 4 8 whichis carried by the mandrel sup# port and ladjustable.longitudinally of the man-l drel. This plate has extending rearwardly from the opposite sides thereof guide rods 41 extendthrough guides 48 mounted on the opposite sidesofthe,mandrel Supporting housing and a screw-threaded spindle 49 which is screwthreaded through4 a worm gear 50 held against y longitudinal'movement within a bearing housing I, tliwormgear'being lin dmesh with a worm f52'mouted'fon'fa shaft 53 and adapted to be r't'ated 'through operating hand wheel 54.

" .Itl will'ths be seen that by ineansl of either 6r both'of the adjustable members/4l and 46 a ciljof'stripinaterial supported on the platen 35 when moved onto'the mandrel III, may be defiinterv-positioned thereon; andas the manera is expanded 'against the inner convolution of the coil, the coil will be held ready for unwinding The pit. II below the mandrel IIIV extends a substantial distance beyond the mandrel in the vertical plane of the center line thereof so that the carriage I2 can be moved to a position beyond the free end of the mandrel for receiving a coil of strip while a second coil is being unwmmd from the mandrel. In this way no time is lost in supplying a fresh coil to the unwindinE reel when required, To avoid having an exposed open pit adjacent the unwinding reel, we provide a sliding iloor plate 55 of a width to completely cover the pit, which latter, at its side walls, is formed with rabbets 56 for supporting the lateral edges of the floor plate, one end of the plate being connected to the rear of the carriage I2 so as to be movable therewith. When the carriage is moved out of coil positioning relation to'the mandrel, the iloor plate 55 will be moved into a shallow cutout in the surface of the permanent iioor 51 which may have a xed floor plate 58 disposed thereover so as not to interfere with the4 movement of workmen over said portion of the oor.

In the operation of our invention the carriage I2 will initially be in the portion of the pit beyond the free end of the mandrel. The platen on the carriage will be lowered to a level to receive a coil of strip material and the member 40 will be adjusted so as to bring the end wall 4I In the course of such movement the coil will be presented over the mandrel in desired position at the limit of movement of the carriage. Preferably the adjustment of the member 46 is suchthat quite independently of thegadjusting plate 46 the coil will be properly positioned. However, iffdesired, the adjusting plate 46 may be relied upon solely as the means for positioning the coil with respect to the mandrel. Or, if desired, both adjustable means may cooperate to dennitely position the coil on the mandrel, as will be quite apparent. When the coil is properly positioned on the mandrel, the wedgecarrying sleeve I6 is moved to the left by admitting fluid under pressure into the cylinder 26 to radially expand and force the mandrel segments into tight engagement with the innermost convolution of the coil. This expansive force can be made suillciently great' to tightly hold the coil and provide the necessary tension thereto during the unwinding operation. The coil having been mounted on the mandrel, the platen is lowered and the carriage withdrawn for receiving another coil-and making the same ready for reception by the mandrel when the coil thereon has been completely -unwound.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be appreciated that with the apparatus of our `invention the various objects and advantages 'range of engineering skill without departing from the spirit of the invention as definedby the appended claims.

4What we claim is:

ves

1. In combination, a mandrel support having a' shaft and means for rotating said shaft, any

expansible mandrel mounted on said shaft, a movable support having a vertically adjustable platen adapted to' be brought into underlying' expansible mandrel mounted on said shaft, a movable support having a vertically adjustable platen adapted to be brought into underlying K relation .to the mandrel and axially move a coil supported on the platen onto the mandrel, and a locator lplate mounted on the movable support and adjustable prior to positioning the coil on the mandrel for controlling the position of the coil on the mandrel as the movable support having a coil thereon is brought into underlying 10 relation to the expansible mandrel.-

LEONARD W. NASH. GEORGE A. MARTIN. 

